[beebuster2000]

At first i thought it was a joke, but it is not. why? God only knows.

[BuffaloJack]

I suppose the next sub will have an all gay crew. /s

[LoneStarGI]

This came straight from the mouth of my mother, the wife of a 20 year retired military officer. I told her about this story earlier today and her response was,’Good lord, they may as well paint the sub white and dangle a long cord from the tail..make it look like a giant tampon.’ My mother is hilarious.

[ully2]

Gives a whole new meaning to pink submarine.

[castlegreyskull]

There is no female submarine Officer corp for submarines yet. There will be in the near future, as there are women out there getting their Dolphins. However, an entire crew by 2015, is completely unrealistic. Not only is there very few officers, there are very few enlisted that have senior ranks that are submarine qualifications.

Electric Boat and Newport News Shipyard is building these boats and future classes not to proclude women, but an entire crew seems really absurb. Especially since there isn’t even a qualified junior officer yet that is a women.

[rabidralph]

I hope they’re up to the challenge. I would hope they would have waited until the women serving on current subs could be properly evaluated before announcing an all female crew.

[elteemike]

The Hill and several other sources have it wrong...

The Moochelle may indeed sponsor the USS Illinois, but the sub will not have an all female crew...

For starters, there is not a female naval officer with the necessary experience to command a submarine...It is just not possible, nevermind practical, to take a surface fleet officer and give her/him command of a submarine...

[Bobalu]

DAS BOOTy

[CedarDave]

The story title and first paragraph have just been sanitized. It now reads:

Michelle Obama sponsors new Navy submarine, carries on White House tradition
By Carlo Munoz - 05/28/12 03:57 PM ET

On Monday, first lady Michelle Obama officially sponsored the USS Illinois, which will be one of the newest Virginia-class nuclear-powered boats scheduled to enter the fleet by 2015, according to a White House statement.

The link title remains the same:
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/navy/229741-michelle-obama-sponsors-navys-first-submarine-with-all-female-crew

The original story read as follows:

Michelle Obama sponsors Navy’s first submarine with all-female crew

The USS Illinois, the first Navy submarine to be staffed by an all-female crew, received the support of the White House on Memorial Day. On Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama officially sponsored the Virginia-class submarine, which will be one of the newest nuclear-powered boats scheduled to enter the fleet by 2015, according to a White House statement.